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| Looking back at Puno from the tour boat |
Jennie (great lady from the hostal) set us up with a day tour of some of the islands on Lake Titicaca. It was great to get away from the city crowds and pollution and be back on the water in fresh air (these Minnesotans were missing the lakes of home!). We have mixed feelings about the tour overall. We already don't like the idea of being led around and talked at in a big group of tourists, but on top of that we were visiting some places that were only kept up because of the tourist industry and possibly being exploited by it.
For example, our first stop was Islas Uros, which is a group of islands made only of reeds from the lake that the people have strategically grouped and stacked together to form an island. There are some 60 islands at one time with about 5 families on each island. We were greeted by families smiling on shore and some still frantically putting on their traditional clothing just for the tour. They even invited us into their houses made of reeds to give us a glimpse of how they lived and of course to sell their crafts to the tourists. It was surprising entering the one room house- there was a TV with Disney movies stacked next to it and one of the children was licking the chocolate off a candy wrapper (which in the end got all over Liz's jacket). The funny thing is the islands were first built by the Uros people to flee from the Incas, but in the end we came and interrupted their way of life anway.
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| View from a restuarant on one of the islands |
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Our tour guide and a local explain
how an island is set up |
We were able to stop at another island about 2 hours away called Isla Taquile. This reminded us both of Greece and we felt somewhat better about interrupting this larger community (maybe because there was more spance to spread out?). The people of Taquile only marry within the community and are able to live with their prospective spouse for 2-3 years before deciding to get married. There is no divorce on the island. The ladies are able to distinguish who is single from married because of the colored hats men wear (red for married and white and red for single). The island was scattered with houses, terraces for farming, and stone walk ways. We got to see a traditional dance, a sampling of textiles from their cooperative store, sheep grazing wherever they wanted, and great views of Bolivia all in one relaxing afternoon.
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| Looked like a dance displaying their farming ways |
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| Ancient terracing still used today |
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| These sheep were not phased at all by us |
We were able to stop at another island about 2 hours away called Isla Taquile. This reminded us both of Greece and we felt somewhat better about interrupting this larger community (maybe because there was more spance to spread out?). The people of Taquile only marry within the community and are able to live with their prospective spouse for 2-3 years before deciding to get married. There is no divorce on the island. The ladies are able to distinguish who is single from married because of the colored hats men wear (red for married and white and red for single). The island was scattered with houses, terraces for farming, and stone walk ways. We got to see a traditional dance, a sampling of textiles from their cooperative store, sheep grazing wherever they wanted, and great views of Bolivia all in one relaxing afternoon.
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